Chapter 30: Chapter 25 – Fated Meeting

Earl's Daughter, Yuriko von Sora, Russiva Imperial Year 782 Month 4, Day 16, ??? (Berilian), Deutsche Empery

 In a secluded place where vines surrounded the concrete walls, and where the place looked like a ruined dungeon where there was a large hole in the ceiling for sunlight, two women were sitting in front of a pond with pebbles on their hands, looking like they’re about to have a match.

*swish!* One young woman with brown hair and brown eyes who looked to be just at the starting point of adulthood threw a pebble towards the water, making it skip a few times before it sunk to the bottom of the pond before it sunk like a torpedo.

Her name was Yuriko von Sora, the daughter of an Earl who immigrated to the Deutsche Empery from the farmost eastern human country of Kyuushu.

*swish!* Another young woman with black hair and brown eyes, who looked to be about the same age as Yuriko threw the pebble in her hands, but not before sneaking a smug look at Yuriko.

Her name was Veera Spioninschmidt, a commoner native to the Deutsche Empery.

*plop!* The pebble sank after just bouncing once.

“Tsk.”

“Heh.” This time Yuriko had the smug plastered on her face.

“Hey Yuri, you only a few days left until you get admitted to the Berilian Officer Academy right? Try not to crack under pressure!” Veera said so in a teasing tone, even shoving Yuriko.

It was her attempt at abruptly changing the topic of focus.

“Pffft, I would never do that … I’m a member of the Sora family!”

And it worked.

 “Hey can we stop throwing rocks for a sec and just talk?”

“Yeah sure … loser!”

“Oh sod off …”

 

“Anyways … have you heard of Adelger Lanzehalter?” Veera asked Yuriko, to which Yuriko scoffed while playing with her hair.

“Are you teasing me? Of course I know about the Roter Speermeister! Do you think I live under a rock or something!?”

The Deutsche Empery had it’s most powerful combatanants intergrated into the military, just as most countries would.

More specifically, the most powerful combatanants of the Deutsche Empery formed a group at the top ranks of the military, having enough power to sustain special rules and individuality from other armies … they were the special backbone of the Deutsche Empery’s combat assets.

They were called the Grands.

The most powerful people in the Empery, they were a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

The man Veera just talked about, Adelger Lanzehalter, was the Grand Lancer, feared in the battlefield for his unmatched prowess with the spear, he was one of the most respected figures in the Empery.

Until a year ago that is …

“The Grand Lancer, Adelger Lanzehalter, has turned his back on his own people!” declared the Emperor out of the blue one day.

The people were confused, they knew that Adelger was one of the most patriotic soldiers in the country, and his compassion almost no limits either, it was just unthinkable that such a man would betray his own country.

Yet it was reality.

The Grand Lancer turned his back on the Empery, joining the Francais Republic for unknown reasons, and with his guidance and knowledge a  full 7% of the Empery’s territory was usurped into the Republic’s own.

It was a betrayal of the most dishonest proportions, and in an instant his name turned from ‘most-renown’ to ‘most-cursed’.

It was a real tale, just once again proving that even a man who would seem like a saint who built his reputation in decades can fall from grace in just mere moments.

“That fucking traitor! He betrayed his own people!” Yuriko emphasized the word ‘traitor’.

Being an immigrant from the eastern country of Kyuushu, it was basically ingrained in her to hate traitors from the bottom of her heart.

“Well, what I’m referring to won’t be the ex-Grand Lancer himself, but rather his son!”

“He had a son?”

“Yes!”

“Lucky bastard, must be bathing with the rewards the Republic gave to his father for his betrayal to the Empery …” Yuriko threw a pebble to the pool of water in front of her, making it skip for 4 times before it sank to the bottom.

But as she reverted her focus from the pebble that just sank back to Veera’s face, she noticed something was off.

She had a big smug on her face.

“Wait … you don’t mean …” Yuriko came to a big realization.

Veera wouldn’t just refer to random people like that without any specific purpose.

“That’s where you’re wrong!” Veera said.

“I knew it.” There was always a twist when it came to Veera’s news, she always delivered the unexpected news in a roundabout way to make it more unexpected.

“So? What’s his status? He’s probably in the royal dungeons being tortured or something.”

“Wrong again! He’ll be attending the Berilian Officer School at the rank of 1^st Sergeant!”

“What!? The son of a traitor!? In the Officer School!? In the capital!?” Yuriko was beyond surprised.

Though the Deutsche Empery didn’t discriminate by race or social status, being the child of a traitor brought bad things to themselves.

Although people wouldn’t openly show it, they would always talk behind their back, speaking ill about them and spreading rumours.

Even if you’ve done nothing wrong yourself, you would get picked off just for your parents’ misdeeds.

They would treat you like you were somewhat the traitor, even going so far as to make your life a living hell.

“How did he even get referral to enroll!?” Yuriko demanded more information from Veera.

“Well, I don’t know the full details, but I heard that he was sent to the very front lines of the Wastelands war theatre in an attempt to kill him indirectly! But instead of dying he made so much merits there that the higher-ups had no choice but to give him a referral to officer’s education!”

The very front lines, meaning he faced the full brunt of the attack of the barbarians, and knowing just well how ruthless the higher ups were, he was probably sent there again and again with no time to rest in order to wear him down so he could be killed …

“Although his life really turned upside down in just a single year … I really can’t help but be impressed about how he made his way to 1^st Sergeant with martial merits alone …”

The fact that he was a traitor’s son meant that his superior officers would have done anything they could to downplay his non-battlefield achievements to a point where one could even say they made it non-existent, which meant that most of his merits had to be accumulated on the battlefield, fighting for dear life.

His merits gained on the battlefield would also be downplayed, though not to as an extreme extent as the  non-battlefield related ones, it would still mean that he’s accomplished much more than just the merits required to promote him to 1^st Sergeant, and instead it wasn’t even impossible that he had the rank of 1^st Lieutenant if he had a respectable background.

“Hey Yuri, do you think he’s also a traitor?”

“I’d rather not guess.”

“Sheesh, you’re no fun.”

“You know I don’t like gambling.”

"Yeah yeah, and speaking of which, I just got wind of a another rising star!"

"Another one?" Yuriko asked as she threw another pebble into the water, it was quite calming hearing the splash of the water along with Veera's chattering voice.

"Her name is, Reichel Schwertspinne, and she's currently a Second Lieutenant!"

"A Second Lieutenant? Well that's certainly rising then ... what's so special about her?"

“I quote ‘With the black angel’s aura of guidance and beauty, she guided us to survive our battles with our lives intact, delivering the judgement of the Death God himself as her sword pierced hearts and her saving grace inspired the men who were on the brink of death to pick up their swords once again and fight!’.” Veera memorized the whole quote from one of her friends at the Schwarzer Engel’s platoon, as she made exaggerated hand gestures.

“… I don’t know, I mean like I’ve heard about her but it just seems to be too far fetched, I mean … who wouldn’t think that ‘delivering the judgement of the Death God himself’ sounds kinda fake?” Yuriko reasoned with Veera.

“Yeah yeah I know, I don’t believe in it either, but here’s what I do believe though …”

"Get this ... she has 96 comfirmed kills during the battle of Urganschoft! Oh wait, do you even know what the battle of Urganscho—mmghfgh.” Veera went on to state some facts, but once Yuriko heard the last words she immediately reacted by covering Veera’s mouth with her hand.

“Shhhhh! How do you even know about that!?” Yuriko asked Veera in full panic mode, before releasing her hand reluctantly.

“Don’t ever talk about that while we’re outside!” Yuriko warned Veera.

Yuriko knew of what really happened at the village of Urganschoft since she was the daughter of a noble … it was something that only people in the higher positions of society, such as herself should know!

Yuriko didn’t really care about things like nobility, as she shared vital information with her commoner friend Veera whenever she could, but such information came out from Veera’s mouth, not hers, which could be interpreted that she had spied on highly influential people.

Veera herself also knew that she could be potentially executed knowing the Empery’s cautious nature for blurting out such sensitive classified information during the Empery’s information unit purge and data blackout, but she just couldn’t help but just gloat to her best friend Yuriko about how her information network was just more advanced than she expected.

“Heh, do you really want to know how I got such information despite the Empery’s oh-so-impenetrable information blackout?” Veera teased Yuriko.

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“I don’t know, do I?”

“Tch, well I’m going to tell you anyways! I heard two of my superiors talking about it while I was on guard duty!”

“You what!?” Yuriko grabbed the collar of Veera’s shirt and started shaking her wildly.

Yuriko was worried that her friend was spying on higher ranking officers, but she would have never expected that her friend would actually do something that was punishable by execution!

“Do you know what’s gonna happen to you if word ever got out that you were eavesdropping on your superiors!? Huh Veera!? Do you know!?” Yuriko shook Veera with all her might.

“Aaaaaaaaaa! Yes yes yes I do know! Word won’t ever get out so please stop shaking meeeeeeee—” Veera was rapidly speaking until nausea kicked in as she was being violently shaken.

“Don’t ever do something like that again, you hear me!?” Yuriko stressed the word “again” because she knew that this wasn’t possibly the first time that Veera did something like this.

“Yes yes I won’t anything like this agaaaaaaaai—"

The one woman was being scolded by another as if they were mother and daughter, even though they were of the same age, the scene seemingly appearing so natural blended in perfectly with their peaceful background.

Yuriko spent her days with Veera like this, carefree and without worry for the world.

“…”

How she would miss her worry-free days …

“Tomorrow you’ll be assigned to the Rhine war front, yes?” Yuriko asked, her mood turning a whole 90 degrees from laughing wholeheartedly to putting up a face filled with a mix of sorrow and contempt.

“Yes … tomorrow I’ll be fighting at the front lines with the against the damn Republicans!” Veera tried to make it sound like she was excited, but during the second part of her sentence it felt like her voice was wavering.

Wavering under anxiousness.

“Is that so …” Yuriko just looked into the distance, as she grabbed one of the pebbles on the ground, and threw it towards the water, making it skip …

Once …

Twice …

Thrice …

All way up to …

“Hey! That’s a new record! 13 skips!” Veera cheered, trying to lighten the bad atmosphere.

“Yeah … I guess that’s a new record …”

But under Yuriko’s half-hearted answer, Veera couldn’t really force herself to try and act cheerful, it just sounded inappropriate.

The silence continued, until Yuriko said something to break it.

“Veera … I’m scared …” Her voice quivered.

“It sounded like a very grand dream when we were kids, we would reach the top, I would go back home filling the expectations of my family and you’d go back as the pride of your village …”

“But now that we’re grown up it sounds like a death sentence, we’d be powerful but would we have the strength to back it up? And even if we did would we have the resolve? The tactical acumen to command thousands of men …”

“Yes.”

“We’d be responsible for their lives, and also the lives of our enemies, we’d be murderers, we’d be killers …”

“Yes …”

“You’re going to be heading the frontlines as a rank and file soldier … you’d be at the forefront of the blades and the magic spells of the enemy and you’d have to work your way up in the next few days while I’d be doing nothing but sitting on a desk and learning, and by the next year I’d be an officer without even having to go through the rank of Private if I ever performed exponentially …”

“I might be someone from the same family as someone who is the current heir to the title of ‘Grand Knight’, but can I even grow as fast as my brother did? I have more than just a few doubts that I’d be able to do so …”

“Well, your brother really is quite talented …” Veera said so, feeling annoyed at a certain person.

“What if … you di—"

*SLAP!*

Yuriko’s words were cut off when her cheek was sudden struck abruptly …

“Don’t say such pferdescheiße (horseshit) in front of my face!” Veera stared at Yuriko intensely, clearly angered by her words.

“V-Veera?” Yuriko asked  sheepishly, it was weird for Veera to act like this, she had never seen Veera so angry before.

Today marked the first time that Veera had ever struck her, even though their friendship was quite strong it didn’t mean that a commoner could just slap  an Earl’s daughter like that.

“We didn't dream so hard only to stop because of something as petty as fear! Is this all the resolve you can muster!?" Veera felt enraged at Yuriko, enough for her to disregard that she was an Earl’s daughter, and that she was a commoner.

Though this was a sign of the rage that Veera felt, it could also the be the sign of Yuriko and Veera’s strong friendship.

“… Our dream … yes?” Yuriko was reminded of her childhood with Veera, running everyday across grassy fields while ignoring the harsh reality that took place in the outside world. It used to be their way of living but now that they were grown up they had to face the harsh reality.

It was time to stop playing in a fake world, and finally live out their dreams in the real world.

“That’s right.” With Veera’s affirmation, Yuriko felt her mood getting lighter, her cheek hurt, but it would be nothing compared to the struggles she knew she would experience in the future.

“First to the title—”

“—First to forever!”

 

---

 

 Eventually, days after that passed and now Yuriko got her much awaited officer’s education for her future, but it wasn’t like anything she expected …

“Military tactics military tactics military tactics … just how many classes for military tactics do we have!?” Yuriko complained.

She was just at the first day of school, she expected that since it was the first day there would be something like a welcoming party or something but instead all she got after 2 minute introductions were assignments and lectures piling up on her schedule …

She was currently venting out her frustrations in the cafeteria during lunchtime after spending 3 hours in a crowded auditorium listening to a nerd’s words the entire morning.

Yuriko took out her bento box and stared at her lunch.

But just staring at her lunch made her think about her brother, who used to make her meals for her even though they had servants.

“Did big brother really go through something like this? This is all just desk work! How did his time in this paperwork school make him into the Grand Knight’s heir!?” Yuriko complained about the lack of practice, and instead every class was just military theory class for young budding aspiring yet-to-be officers …

Yuriko took out a rice ball from her lunch box, bringing it close to her mouth after sniffing it just to make sure it wasn’t poisoned or anything.

You could never be too cautious in these trying times.

“Sigh, some people were just perfectly made for this kind of thing I gues—” Yuriko complained about her unwillingness to be a military officer, but as she was going to bite into her onigiri and complain even more while chewing on her food …

*kraaak* (chair-screeching.mp3)

But instead she was forced to postpone that, with her mouth gaping wide open as she still held her onigiri with her steady two hands, instead giving her focus to what has transpired just in the seat in front of her.

*clank*

The distinct clank of the metal tray the cafeteria provides you with along the rations available for purchase snapped sense back into Yuriko.

“Guten tag, Private …”

But even if her sense of self came back with the sudden sound, she still couldn’t believe it.

“… Is this seat … perhaps taken?” The signature black hair paired with her unique red eyes …

The scar on her face that made it almost impossible for her to marry even with her unrivalled beauty …

“… Soldat?” (Soldier?) The beautiful voice which was heaven compared to the average opera singer’s earth …

“A-Ah yes! You may sit there if you please—” It took a short moment for Yuriko to realise, that it wasn’t a dream.

She had just sat across her, in a two seater table during lunch at cafeteria.

Yuriko knew her name, but it was rude to call a higher officer by their name before their rank, so she took a quick glance at her shoulder to look at her shoulder patch …

“—Second Lieutenant!”

The Schwarzer Engel, Reichel Schwertspinne.